51 Birch Street

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51 Birch Street

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 04/17/2007 - 12:31am.

      Olympia Film Society
        206 5th Ave N
   Olympia, WA 98501

    Tuesday, April 17, 6:30pm
    Wednesday, April 18, 9pm
    Thursday, April 19, 6:30pm

Ignorant Movie Review: 51 Birch Street

Response to title: Sounds like an address; a fixed location from which all plot, suspense, comedy, life, etc. unfolds throughout the film?

Response to curbside poster: The poster appears to be an old family photograph with the caption "Do you really want to know your parents?" I'm guessing the film is a documentary chronicaling one person's search for self through the discovery of parents as people (not just parents).

Response post-credits: How did I immediately know that the film's poster was a family photograph? What is "parent"? Director/writer/producer/cinematographer/son/father/husband/Doug Block films things. You kind've get the impression that if you're with the guy, you're on camera. So when you see his parents at their 50th wedding anniversary, and you hear them answering his questions, you get to see who these people are to their world. And associations are built, generalizations matched with your exhisting patterns. Doug lets us know that he did the same thing with this world and his parents. Naturally, then, we're let in on the aftermath of his "mom's" death. His mom, Mina Block, daily diareed from the 60's to the 80's. What do you think you'd learn from reading twenty years worth of your mom's life?

I think this is an absolutely fascinating documentation of paradigm adjustment. I think it's a powerful proponent for honesty, and I recommend everyone see it.

Rating: 4.45 out of 5 Oly Stubbies.

Film Haiku: "Suddenly I'm not"
but did still does and Autumn
is as familiar.

enpen's blog
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"Would Mom have wanted me to read her diaries?"

Submitted by blagoblag on Thu, 04/19/2007 - 12:09pm.

Excellent recommendation. I was particularly impressed that the film didn't make judgments about who was good or bad - it was just the reality of who they were.

I found Doug Block's subject matter and style very reminiscent of Ross McElwee, a master of the personal documentary genre. If you like 51 Birch Street, check out Sherman's March and Bright Leaves.

recommendation taken

Submitted by enpen on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 12:53am.

I'm in line at the library right now.

This is awesome.

"Anybody who doesn't know that politics is crime has got a few screws loose."

Sweet!

Submitted by blagoblag on Fri, 04/20/2007 - 10:08am.

Let me know what you think!

I just came across an interview with Doug Block where he said that Sherman's March was the film that inspired him to make documentaries.

so far

Submitted by enpen on Tue, 05/22/2007 - 9:31pm.

I was able to see Bright Leaves about a week ago and I really enjoyed it. Oddly enough, I had heard of the movie before in the context of his cousin's movie collection, so it was a little jarring to have that memory suddenly placed within a perspective.

I still haven't been able to see Sherman's March, but you were dead on noticing the stylistic correlation. Confessional poetry has found itself in film.

"Please name to me a single tribe in the last 500 years that became better off after contact. There is none!"

Glad you liked it!

Submitted by blagoblag on Tue, 05/29/2007 - 2:15pm.

I'm a sucker for McElwee's lilting Carolina accent.

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